


Bonely School Days

by Sweet_n_Fluffy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Papyrus, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Middle School, Child Alphys, Child Papyrus, Child Reader, Child Sans, Child Sans Is Still Punny, Child Undyne, Childhood Sweethearts, Crying Papyrus, Fluff, Friendship, Gaster Is the Best Grandpa, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Grandpa Gaster, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot (Maybe), Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, Shy Papyrus, Sin Free Zone, Some bullying, Teacher Toriel, Typical Schoolyard Bully, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 15:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5748778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweet_n_Fluffy/pseuds/Sweet_n_Fluffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>**Currently on hiatus! I will continue this eventually, but I'm currently more focused on "Once Smitten, Twice Skele-Shy!**<br/>Papyrus did not start off as the confident, happy-go-lucky skeleton he is today.<br/>In fact, he was very much a different person as a child. One day on the playground,<br/>Papyrus is confronted by a monster girl, and she did not want to be his friend.</p><p>This is an elementary school AU. Papyrus and Sans are both children.<br/>Papyrus does not have the same personality, since in my canon, he was not a confident<br/>child. I'm just making that very clear before someone says that he's out of character. Also,<br/>Gaster is their grandfather.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonely School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the reception this one-shot got, this is officially going to be a full story!
> 
> Child!Papyrus is shy in this. Just a warning.  
> I suspect that he was shy as a kid, but gradually grew into  
> the cinnamon roll we all know and love today.
> 
> The bully was originally going to be Undyne, but I didn't think  
> that would be a good idea. Instead, I just made a typical schoolyard bully. :/

It was a peaceful, warm summer day on the playground, as all the kid monsters and human children frolicked around, joyous to have a break from class. The spring brought many beautiful sights, such as the sunflowers that grew in the school yard and the monarch butterflies, fluttering gracefully in the air. Your classmates were having the best time, swinging on the swings sets, playing hopscotch, drawing with chalk, jumping rope, and enjoying various other activities associated with youth. Everyone around you emanated happiness, except for one small child, sitting in the sandbox with a bunny clutched in his arm. He was the skeleton monster that always sat in the back of the classroom, appearing lonely. The skeleton wore an orange and yellow stripped shirt with a pair of jean overalls. On his feet were red boots, and to top the whole outfit off, on his head was a pinwheel hat. He was intensely focused on building the perfect sandcastle, but every time he tried, it would fall apart. He was a determined skeleton boy though, never stopping until his creation was complete. From afar, you were silently cheering for him, watching as he added the finishing touches.

You were not friends with the monster, but knew quite a few things about him. He had an older brother who was in in 2nd grade. The older skeleton was a prankster, constantly making puns or putting whoopee cushions on either a student’s chair, or even the teacher’s chair. Though he was a few years your senior, the two of you spoke on occasions in passing. That was how you learned more about his little brother.

Sans’s younger brother’s name was Papyrus. Papyrus was not a confident monster, and would always hide from others. He was also frequently a target of bullies because of his small stature and meek personality. Sans explained that he was quite cheerful at home, but when it came to school, he was the exact opposite. Papyrus would always cry to Grandfather Gaster, showing him all the new orange bruises he acquired that day. You would even see him getting bullied in the lunchroom or playground. One time, a cyclops girl with pig-tails poured chocolate milk over his head, then stole his precious cookie. Seeing Papyrus drenched in chocolate milk and sobbing tangerine tears was enough to make you want to cry with him.

“Hey, hey! Wanna share a snack?” asked Phylia, the strawberry slime girl who was sitting on the yellow bench next to you. She was holding on to a bag of chocolate monster cookies.

“Okay! Those look tasty! Sure, Phylia!” you took a cookie. You were about eat it, but stopped when you heard a harsh sounding voice followed by a whimper.

“Hey, dork! Get’a load of this!”

“N-nyeh!”

Looking back at the sandbox, there stood a tall, green cyclops girl with pig tails, laughing triumphantly with her hands on her hips. The sand castle Papyrus had worked so much on was reduced to a sand pile. His face and clothes were covered in sand. Why would someone do such a thing?!

“M-my castle! W-why did you do this?!” Papyrus cried, wiping the sand out from his eye sockets.

“I just wanted to have some fun. Quit being a little crybaby.” The cyclops girl laughed, pointing at Papyrus.

“Crybaby! Crybaby!” She taunted, sticking her tongue out.

“S-stop! I’m Papyrus! Not a crybaby!” You saw his ivory face beginning to scrunch up. He was desperately trying to hold back sobs, but failed. Once the first two orange tears fell from his face, he began wailing with his mouth wide open. That was when you witnessed enough. Though you were smaller than the cyclops girl, your determination made up for it. Papyrus was an innocent kid; there was no way you were going to allow him to be bullied any longer. You stood up from the yellow bench, stomping your way over to the sandbox.

“No! Don’t go! You don’t stand a chance!” Phylia shouted, but nothing could stop you.

Taking a deep breath, you shouted the loudest you could.

“Hey! Leave him alone you bully!”

Both the cyclops girl and Papyrus looked at you. The little skeleton seemed surprised that anyone would stand up for him other than his brother, and the bully was flabbergasted.

You stood in front of Papyrus, shielding him from the bully.

“Why don’t you make me!” The cyclops girl pushed you, almost making you fall on Papyrus. Though she laughed at you, her smile disappeared when she saw you getting up again. You were not a fighter, and had no intention to hit her. There was one thing that all children feared the most though: tattle tailing.

“If you don’t be nice, I’ll tell Ms. Toriel! Then your mama will know that you’ve been a bad girl!” You said, crossing your arms. She flinched, stepping back a few inches.

“O-Okay…fine! I’ll leave him alone! Just don’t tattle! Deal?” She was terrified, shivering like it was in the middle of winter.

“Deal!” You nodded. “Now be nice to people from now on, okay?”

After staring each other down, the cyclops girl walked away. Being as young as you were, you had no clue why she was bullying others. You were just glad to have been there to intervene. Speaking of Papyrus, the skeleton was now standing up, staring down at his boots with orange-stained cheeks.

“Y-you think I’m a crybaby too, right? Was that why you saved me, human?” He asked, tears still in his eye sockets.

“No! I just wanna be your friend!” You said, extending your hand out to him. The skeleton popped his head up in surprise, blushing even more.

“B-but I’m a weak little crybaby. Who would want to be friends with someone like me?” His voice began cracking slightly, but you still held your hand out, determined to have him trust you.

“I do.” You said with a patient smile.

“A-are you sure?” Papyrus asks, shifting his gaze from the ground to look you in the eye.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

With that, he took your hand.

At the end of the day, parents came to pick up their children from school. You and Papyrus were waiting outside the door, talking about your favorite morning cartoons. Papyrus was not much of a conversationalist, but the more comfortable he became, the more he opened himself up to you.

“hey guys.” Said a familiar voice. When you turned your head, there was Papyrus’s older brother right in front of you. All the breath escaped from your lungs; Papyrus on the other hand seemed overjoyed, running to embrace his brother.

“Jeez! Don’t sneak up on me like that, Sans!” You whined, taking your hands off your mouth. How he managed to sneak up on you without giving away his presence baffled you.

“hehe, sorry. guess humans don’t like magic tricks. you gotta admit though, it was…san-sational.”

You were too young to understand what that word meant, but you knew for sure that he was making a pun.

“SANS!” Both you and Papyrus groaned. The older skeleton laughed, making more awful puns to pass the time.

 

After what seemed like a million terrible puns later, the grandfather of the skeleton brothers came to pick them up.

“Grandpa! Grandpa!” Papyrus exclaimed, running up to Gaster with his arms wide open.

“Ah, my wonderful grandchild!” Gaster said, in a tongue completely unfamiliar to you. He bent down on his knee, picking Papyrus up and twirling him around before giving him a large hug.

Sans was about to make his way towards the two, but before taking a step, he gave you the sincerest grin you had ever seen on him.

“thanks for taking care of my lil bro. if you ever need anything, let the sanster know.”

The skeleton winked at you, then went to join his family. It was great to have friends, you thought, a smile spreading across your face.


End file.
